Medical Advisor

Tender description

This competition is being run on the South-East Business Portal and responses have to be on the Portal. Rushmoor Borough Council (the Council) is a designated licensing authority under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976; authorised to issue, administer and enforce licences in respect of hackney carriage (taxis) and private hire (minicab) driver’s, vehicles and operators. Sections 51 and 59 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 state that the licensing authority cannot grant a licence to drive a hackney carriage and/or private hire vehicle unless satisfied that the applicant is a 'fit and proper person' to hold such a driver’s licence. The term 'fit and proper person' is not defined in law but the licensing authority has, by virtue of its taxi licensing policy (copy attached as appendix A), set out the following. Applicants and existing licence holders must demonstrate (amongst other matters) that they are, and continue to be, medically fit (mentally and physically) and in such condition as to be capable of driving and performing the duties of a licensed hackney carriage and/or private hire driver. For these purposes, the licensing authority will, by virtue of its policy, normally consider and determine medical and physical fitness to drive a hackney carriage and/or private hire vehicle by reference to the extant Group 2 (II) standards of the current medical standards of fitness to drive issued by the Drivers Medical Group of the DVLA. Where appropriate, the licensing authority may also have regard to the publication ‘Fitness to Drive: Guide for Health Professionals’ by the Chief Medical Adviser of the Department for Transport, c/o the Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd, ISBN 1-85315-651-5, ISBN(13) 9781853156519 (or extant equivalent). In determination of driver fitness, the licensing authority generally requires applicants and, where appropriate, existing licence holders to undergo a medical examination with their own registered GP in first instance. By way of avoiding any potential conflicts of interest, the GP does not declare whether the applicant meets the DVLA Group 2 standards, but merely completes a prescribed medical form. The applicant pays the GP surgery direct for this service. Such a medical is generally required and undertaken on first licence application and every 6 (six) years thereafter on renewal following the applicants 45th birthday. Medicals are undertaken at this frequency until the age of 65 when it is repeated annually. Additional medicals and/or interventions may be required on notification of any change in medical circumstances, (i.e. following illness, accident, operations, treatments, development of a disability etc) and/or on condition of any licence (if granted). The prescribed medical form is written in such a way as to enable licensing officers to easily identify any areas of concern (i.e. on an exception basis). Where any area of concern is identified, the medical report is subsequently referred to the Medical Advisor for guidance and direction on whether the applicant is suitably fit for licensed duties and/or whether improvements or conditions may be required. The Council is looking to appoint a suitably qualified medical practitioner to undertake the functions specified in the specification and advise it on applicant and licence holder fitness to drive and perform the duties of a licensed hackney carriage and/or private hire driver relative to the given medical standards. Keywords: Occupational health assessment, Medical Practitioner, Medical Advisor